PENGUIN PLAYGROUND

Upon hearing that third graders were working on a unit about penguins I decided to create a blog post that is all about the birds that can't fly.  I hope you enjoy what I have created for youl

 

 

I heard that one third grade teacher wanted to compare the skeleton of a human with one of a penguin.  What an awesome idea!!!!!!!!!  I liked that idea so much I decided to help with it a little bit.

In order to compare and contrast the two skeletons, I would suggest using “Post It” in Classtools.net.  All you have to do is upload the two pictures into “Post It”.  Then follow directions.  Click on a Post It note and add the desired text.  Then draw a line to the skeletal part from the Post It note.  I have attached the two skeletal photos.

 

 

You can easily find both the human and penguin skeletons online.  And speaking of games, if you want to see how the skeleton works check out the site below. This is an interactive site in which students can manipulate a human skeleton to see how it moves.  Click on the picture below.

 

 

 

  

 

 

OUR FIRST AFTERNOON MEETING

Today is our first afternoon meeting of the media specialists.  Below is a reminder that I created for all involved.



This is the schedule that we will be following this afternoon:

1:00 - 1:30  -  Creative writing project using Classtools.net's Random Name Picker and
                       Screencast-o-matic.
1:30 - 2:30  -  Reports from: Gay Strickland about her Bright Ideas grant in which she will purchase
                       three iPads in order to help reluctant readers.
                       Danielle McPherson, Donna Belisada and Charity Worley will talk briefly about theirs.
                       Larry Hewett will explain what his winning grant entails and how all will benefit.
                       Myra Malpass will report on her collaborative project with an English teacher.
                       Jewell Cribb will report on her students creating and using Classtools' Arcade Games.
                       Mary Gore will report on her collaborative project with other teachers using
                       Youblisher.com                     
2:30 - 3:30  -  Larry Hewett will be doing a presentation on VoiceThread and everyone will be     
                       creating their first one. Olive Shuping, Charity Worley, Julie Sellers and Sherrill
                       Stephens will assist.

AMY DOES TECHNOLOGY TUESDAY AT ECHS

Amy Malpass, media specialist at ECHS, did a mini workshop for the faculty and staff on Technology Tuesday.  Below is a photo of her working on her presentation and the blog post that contains the sites that she is going to discuss.

http://echsmediacenter.blogspot.com/#!/2012/11/technology-tuesday.html

SCHS TECHNOLOGY TUESDAY PRESENTATION10/16/12

For your convenience I have a QR code and a shortened URL to this site.

 

 

 

BELLRINGER!!!

 

Click Here

 

 

BLOGS:

Blogs can create a learning environment that extend beyond the classroom.

Collaboration

Discussion

Instruction

Student portfolios

Documentation

Examples:

Lesson Twenty-Six

How Do You Hide An Elephant?

Online Assessment

Reflective Vokis

ONLINE TOOLS:

The highest number of onlines tools that I've seen is 4,000.  This morning we're going to review a few oldie goldies and a few new ones.

WORDLE

Who made this speech?

Who made this second speech?

WORDSIFT

Sift through words in order to create an interactive word cloud.

 

PHOTO EDITORS

http://www.tuxpi.com/

http://fotoflexer.com/



http://pixlr.com/editor/

A Tube Catcher

 PUBLISHING

 MY OPEN LETTER:    Click Here

 Open Letter Sample

Publication can be edited

LOOSE LEAVES:         Click Here

Loose Leaves Sample 

No editing after publication

PEN.IO:

Click here

Short Text:

Click here

Disposable Webpage:

Comes with time clock for up to 90 days

Click here

SCREENCAST-O-MATIC;    Click Here

For an excellent student-made video see bottom of page.

For a teacher-made tutorial, click here.

What is a podcast?  It is an audio file similar to a radio broadcast, which can be downloaded and listened to on a computer, mp3 player, mobile phone, etc.

IPADIO:  Click here.

For student podcasts or phlogs, click here.

Podcasts can be used on fieldtrips.

YODIO:  Click here.

VOICETHREAD:  Click here

NEW SITES TO EXPLORE

Click Here

Click Here

 

 

Test to Video

Create a video clip from any site on the internet

 

http://www.wibbitz.com/

 

 

 

 

100+ STEM Websites & Webtools for Teachers

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/126258

 

 

 

 

For more sites go to another one of my techno blogs.

 

Click Here!

 

MEDIA SPECIALISTS VIDEO

The following video is one I created using photos taken at our Professional Development day on September 24 at Nakina Middle School.  I wanted to surprise everyone with a visual documentation of our workshop.  Hope they all enjoy it.

TUTORIALS FOR EVERYBODY!

During our last Professional Development day held on September 24 at Nakina Middle School all participants were assigned to create an online tutorial.  Wow, what wonderful collection of tutorials we had by the end of the day.  Below is just one of the great examples.

HOW TO USE DROPBOX

Recently I was asked by one of my high school principals to introduce Dropbox to his staff so that they might be able to easily transfer their lesson plans to him.  I found a great tutorial online at the following address: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-dropbox-2011-2#heres-the-dropbox-home-page-to-register-click-the-tiny-arrow-next-to-log-in-at-the-top-1 .  Since it also mentioned Mac computers I did make a few deletions for this presentations.  This tutorial basically explains how to download Dropbox onto your PC and smart phone.  It also gives the basics of how to upload files into Dropbox.  See the tutorial below.



OK, now that you know how to download Dropbox and upload items into it, what about transferring your lesson plans to your principal?  Sharing files with others can be accomplished in one of two ways.  "The easiest way is to place files in your Public folder inside the Dropbox. Control click that file and you’ll see a Dropbox submenu. In that menu is an option to copy the public link for that file. Paste that link into an email and when the recipient clicks it the file will download to his/her computer."

"The second way to share files is to create a new folder in your Dropbox and share it. Sharing can be accomplished in your Dropbox online account. If you click the dropdown menu of your folder you can choose to share that folder. A form will appear and you enter the address of the person you want to share that folder with (the person will need a Dropbox account). That person will receive an email inviting him/her to share that folder or file. Once accepted the folder or file will appear in his/her Dropbox."  http://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/63673.aspx

MEDIA SPECIALIST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Before school started I met with the Media Specialists and AIG instructors for a day and a half technology workshop.  I have been assigned to work with the Media Specialilst all year and assist them technologically in any way that I can.  Their first assignment was to create a blog for their Media Centers.  This will be used to stay in touch with their principals, staff members, me and one another.  Next they created a screen cast of themselves reading a book review that they had written.  They used Screencast-o-matic.com to do this.  Once the screencast was completed they embedded it into their blogs using the embed code.  Finally they created a word cloud about a book in their collection using Wordle.net.  A .jpeg of this word cloud was also uploaded to their blogs.  In closing we had a discussion as to how they could share what they had learned and use it with the teachers and students at their schools.

MY FIRST ASSIGNMENT

Ms. Packer, principal of Evergreen Elementary School, asked me to come by to do a quick tutorial on Mimio Boards for some of her teachers.  They all had the boards in their rooms but had never received any training on them.  So this was my first assignment as Instructional Technology Facilitator.  The session lasted for approximately one hour and Ms. Rutie Newman who hosted the mini workshop was able to do a four or five slide presentation to be used during Open House.

READY, SET, GO!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, since I was reassigned I've been busy with an AIG course and workshops.  I attended the Summer Institute sponsored by the NCDPI.  During this two day workshop I learned so much about Media and Technology Essential Standards.  This information will be shared with our county media specialists when i do their professional development the 22nd and 23rd of August.  This week I am attending the 2012 Administrative Retreat which I am finding to be very interesting  I am really enjoying meeting the fellow administrators and taking part in all of the presentations.  Below are two photos taken during this retreat.

For your convenience, I've embedded the Common Core App sponsored by MasteryConnect.

FROM ART TEACHER TO INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY FACILITATOR

Hello, my name is Larry Hewett and I am the new Instructional Technology Facilitator for Columbus County Schools after having been an art instructor for twenty years.  I am very excited about my new position and look forward to assisting our county schools with all their educational technology needs.  If you ever need to get in contact with me, feel free to call Columbus County Schools at 910-642-5168 or email me at lhewett@columbus.k12.nc.us  .  Be sure to visit my wiki at http://columbuscountyites.wikispaces.com/home  .